A new poll
by a pro-voter suppression group asked 1,000 American adults about the
issue of voter fraud in the United States. And despite their arguably
slanted question, just 36 percent of those polled agreed with the
group’s premise that it is a “major problem.”Judicial Watch, a right-wing group and leading player
in the push for more voting restrictions, joined with the conservative
Breitbart.com to sponsor the December poll. After asking questions about
general corruption in Washington, D.C., the pollster (a GOP-connected
firm called the polling company, inc./WomanTrend) posed the voter fraud
question. “Voter fraud occurs when people who are not eligible to vote
do so anyway, or when one voter casts multiple ballots in a single
election,” they asked, giving respondent the options of “a major problem
in the U.S.,” “a minor problem in the U.S.,” “not a problem in the
U.S.,” and “don’t know/can’t judge.”
Just 36 percent indicated that voter fraud is a “major problem in the
U.S.” Thirty nine percent indicated that it is a minor problem and 15
percent more said it was not a problem at all. While Judicial Watch announced these findings as “Three-quarters (75%) of adults recognize voter fraud as a problem in the United States,” a closer inspection of the crosstabs
shows that 54 percent believe voter fraud to be a minor or non-existent
issue. While 53 percent of the Republicans polled consider it a major
problem, just 26 percent of Democrats and 33 percent of independents
shared with that view.
Chris Farrell, a spokesman for Judicial Watch told
the American Family News Network that the poll showed “great concern
over the ability of the country to have honest elections,“ falsely
claiming that “three quarters of adults say that voter fraud is a huge
problem in the United States.”
The actual results suggest that fewer Americans are concerned about voter fraud than they were two years ago. A 2012 Washington Post poll
found 48 percent of Americans believed voter fraud a major problem in
U.S. presidential elections, while 33 percent said it was minor problem
and 14 percent said it was not a problem.
Judicial Watch and other conservative groups have used the specter of
voter fraud to push for strict photo ID laws for voters and other
restrictions on the right to vote. But, in truth, the overwhelming
evidence shows that voter fraud is extremely rare in the United States. Indeed research has shown that voters are 39 times more likely to be struck by lightning than commit voter fraud at the polls, and 3,500 times more likely to report a UFO encounter.